Power operated adjustable ballast shaping member



C. W. SHIPLEY May 6, 1958 POWER OPERATED ADJUSTABLE BALLAST SHAPING MEMBER Filed Sept. 30, 1954 United States Patent POWER OPERATED ADJUSTABLE BALLAST SHAPING lVIEMBER Calvin W. Shipley, Munster, Ind., assignor to 0. F. Jordan Company, East Chicago, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application September 30, 1954, Serial No. 459,242

3 Claims. (Cl. 37-105) The invention relates to improvements in means used in association with the main wing of a railroad spreader to enable shaping of various ballast slopes or sections, as may be desired by the railroad.

The invention relates more particularly to the construction of the means for performing the ballast shaping operation and to means for power operation thereof.

In constructions heretofore provided for this purpose the structure was moved manually to the desired position. Due to the position of the structure and its considerable weight, the manual adjustment thereof was not only a laborious one, but also constituted a distinct safety hazard.

Additionally, manual operation was slow and hence objectionable also for that reason.

The general object of the present invention .is to provide a structure, the adjustable operation of which can be performed by power means under the control of the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide structure which can be adjusted more conveniently in less time and which will also reduce the likelihood of accidents.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a railroad spreader provided with a powered adjustable ballast, section blade embodying the preferred form of the invention, the ballast section blade being shown in its raised inoperative position upon the main wing of the spreader and upon which it is mounted. n V

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the main spreader wing, with the blade of the ballast section shown in its lowered operative position on the spreader wing, there appearing in relatively heavy dot and dash lines, a certain bracket (appearing in Fig. which is removably attached to the rear of the spreader wing to receive the thrust imposed on the ballast section blade when in operation.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through a part of the main spreader wing and ballast section blade, as taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is another and detail vertical sectional view through another part of the Wing and the blade when the latter is in its operative position showing the bracket, before mentioned, in position on the wing to receive the thrust imposed on the ballast section blade in its operative position.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the thrust receiving bracket mentioned in connection with Figs. 2 and 4.

Referring now to that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as a whole is a railroad spreader, adapted to operate along the tracks of a railway.

Rearwardly of thecar front there is positioned a vertical post 11, on which a main wing 12 is mounted for swinging movement to and from the car side on hinge structure 13.

The wing 12 is mounted in hinge part 13 by means of a horizontal pivot pin 14, to permit swinging movement in fiuid under pressure, not shown.

2,833,059 Patented May 6, 1958 The ballast shaping structure The ballast shaping structure comprises a substantially triangularly shaped blade member 16 positioned on the outer face 17 of the main spreader wing 12, adjacent the lower inner corner thereof.

The apex portion 18 of the blade 16 is mounted upon a horizontally disposed pivot pin 19 carried by the main wing. Thus the blade is mounted forswinging movement in a vertical plane about the horizontal pivot 19.

For actuating the blade there is provided an hydraulic cylinder 20, upon the inner side of the main wing 12. As shown, the cylinder 20 is diagonally disposed, the upper end thereof being attached to a bracket 21 mounted on the rear face of the main wing, disposed pivot pin 22.

In the cylinder 20 there is'provided a piston, not shown, to which one end of the connecting rod 23 is connected, the other end being pivotally connected to the outer end of a crank arm 24 by means of a horizontally disposed pivot pin 25.

Secured to the under side of the bottom edge of the main wing 12 is a bearing block 26, in which is mounted for rotation, a shaft 27, to one end of which the inner end of crank arm 24 is secured. Secured to the opposite end of shaft 27 is a crank arm 28, the outer end portion of which is provided with an elongated slot 29 to receive a pin 30 secured to and projecting from the inner face of the blade member 16 near the bottom edge thereof.

Conduits 31 and 32 are connected to opposite ends of the hydraulic cylinder 20 and to a source of hydraulic Suitable valve means, not shown, are provided adjacent the cylinder 20 so that an operator may admit fluid to the cylinder 20 as desired. It should be understood that when the blade member is operating to shape the ballast, the main spreader wing will always be swung outwardly at an angle to the side of the car. This permits the operator to operate the valve for controlling adjustment of the blade and to perform the other necessary or desired operations.

If desired, the hydraulic fluid could be locked in the system to hold the piston in any placed position, and hence to hold the blade 16 in adjusted position. However, since heavy loads are frequently imposed it is preferable to provide a locking pin to hold the blade in adjusted position. For this purpose blade 16 is provided with a plurality of openings 40 which are aligned with similar openings in the main wing. By inserting a locking pin through the desired set of aligned openings the blade can be positively locked against swinging movement on the pivot 19.

When the ballast blade 16 is operating it is subject to heavy loads, tending to bend the lower portion, projecting below the bottom of the main wing, rearwardly. To prevent such action there is provided a bracket structure 41, best illustrated in Fig. 5. The bracket 41 comprises a boXlike body portion 42 having upper and front faces 43 and 44 respectively. Extending upwardly is a platelike portion 45. The distance between the face portion 46 of portion 45 and the front face portion 44 is equal to the distance between the inner and outer faces of the main wing (see Fig. 4). The bracket is secured in place by means of a plurality of bolts 47-47 which extend through openings 48-48 of the bracket member and by means of a horizontally Q) aligned openings through the lower part of the main-wing and the blade 16.

The structure illustrated anddescribed provides means for accomplishing the objects of the inventionand others which will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A railroad spreader embodying therein a car having a vertically disposed main spreader wing pivoted at its inner end to the car for swinging movement into a number of different angular positions relative to the car, said main spreader wing having front and rear sides and a lower edge portion, means forming a ballast shaping member having front and rear sides and being positioned on the outer side "of the main spreader wing with its inner side in engagement with the outer side of the main wing, horizontal pivot means mounting the ballast shaping member for swinging movement in a plane paralleling that of the outer side of the main wing, and power means for causing swinging movement of the ballast shaping wing on said horizontal pivot, said means including an hydraulic cylinder positioned on the rear side of the main wing, one end of which is attached to the main wing by means of a horizontal pivot to permit swinging movement of the cylinder in a plane substantially parallel to the rear side of the main wing, a piston insaid cylinder and a piston rod connected to said piston and extending outwardly from the hydraulic cylinder at the end opposite the pivoted end, a bell crank mounted on a horizontal pivot disposed under the lower edge portion of the main wing, one arm of said bell crank being disposed on the rear side of the main wing and having an end portion thereof pivotally attached to the said piston rod, the other arm of said bell crank being operatively connected to said ballast shaping member.

2. A railroad spreader embodying therein a car having a vertically disposed main spreader wing pivoted at its inner end to the car for swinging movement into a number of different angular positions relative to the car, said main spreader wing having front and rear sides and a lower edge portion, means forming a ballast shaping member having front and rear sides and being positioned on the outer side of the main spreader wing with its inner side in engagement with the outer side of the main wing, horizontal pivot means mounting the ballast shaping member for swinging movement in a plane paralleling that of the outer side of the main wing, and power means for causing swinging movement of the ballast shaping wing on said horizontal pivot, said means including an hydraulic cylinder positioned on the rear side of the main wing, one endof which is attached to the main wing by means of a horizontal pivot to permit swinging movement of the cylinder in a plane substantially parallel to the rear side of the main wing, a piston in said cylinder and a piston rod connected to said piston and extending outwardly from the hydraulic cylinder at the end opposite the pivoted end, a bell crank mounted on a horizontal pivot disposed under the lower edge of the main wing, one arm of said bell crank being disposed on the rear side of the main wing and having an end portion thereof pivotally attached to the said piston rod, the other arm of said bell crank being under the lower edge portion of the main spreader wing and being operatively connected to said ballast shaping member.

3. A railroad spreader embodying therein a car having vertically disposed main spreader wing pivoted at its inner end to the car for swinging movement into a number of dilterent angular positions relative to the car, said main spreader wing having front and rear sides and a bottom edge portion, means forming a ballast shaping member-having front and rear sides and being positioned on the outerside of the main spreader wing with its inner side in engagement with the outer side of the main wing, horizontal pivot means mounting the ballast shaping member for swinging movement in a plane paralleling that of the outer side of the main wing and a bracket member having a portion positioned under the lower edge portion of the main spreader wing and which includes structure extending downwardly from said edge portion into supporting relation to the rear side of said ballast shaping member, "said bracket member also having an upstanding portion positioned on the inner side of the main spreader wing and removable means extending through the said upstanding bracket portion, the main spreader wing and the ballast shaping member whereby the main wing, the ballast shaping member and the bracket member are secured against relative movement and the ballast shaping member is braced against forces tending to bend the lower portion of the ballast shaping wing under the bottom edge portion of the main spreader wing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,763,680 Tellis June 17, 1930 1,816,869 Protzeller Aug. 4, 1931 1,817,523 Protzeller Aug. 4, 1931 2,371,502 Burns Mar. 13, 1945 2,491,797 Burns et a1. Dec. 20, 1949 2,594,727 Burggren Apr. 29, 1952 

